village creek - november 2012

Copyright © 2012 Peel, Inc. VillageCreekCommunityNewsletter - November 2012 1

The Village Gazette

Volume 9, Issue 11 Village Creek Community Association November 2012

VillageGazette

TheVFall is ending, but the gardener cannot rest on his laurels (or on

any other tree, for that matter). It is time to think about freeze protection for your water system. History shows that Tomball has gotten hard freezes in November, so this is a good time to prepare. We generally get a warning from the weatherman, but, by that time, the only insulation the hardware stores have is left-over swimming pool noodles. Get there a few days before the frost, and you can probably get the right insulation for the job. As many of you know from (expensive and exasperating) experience, the most likely point of freezing is the brass backflow preventer. This is the device that separates the drinking water from the irrigation water.

LANDSCAPE CORNER

Your first introduction to this device will most likely be shortly after the freeze (maybe about 9:00 AM) when the ice inside of the device thaws. At this point, assuming you are home, you will see water babbling down the street. As you go to your backyard to check for the source of your new brook, you find the backflow preventer brass top, and other miscellaneous parts, laying on the ground, and water gushing straight up out of the top of the valve….sort of like Old Faithful. At this point, you should shut off the lower valve. Shutting this valve will stop the flow, though you may get wet during this operation. The thing that breaks, generally, is a plastic poppet valve inside.

This failure creates a large water loss and can be costly to repair as well (if you can find the a plumber, and he can find parts). Let’s be

proactive! On the day before the weatherman predicts a hard freeze, consider shutting the inlet water off to this valve entirely. Open the two little test valves on its side to allow it to drain. These two small test valves usually require a screwdriver to open and close. Typically, you turn those just 90 degrees counter-clock-wise to open them (the screwdriver slots should be horizontal when open). Leave them open during the freeze. Your device may be different, so check on the internet for recommendations for your particular valve. If there are any valves on the downstream side of the backflow preventer, open these to allow ice to expand. Even with the backflow preventer emptied, any water trapped inside of an exposed pipe will need to be proected against freezing. Generally, it is wise to insulate all exposed pipes. If you have any doubts, hire a handyman to handle this pesky problem.

Hint: Normally, a valve handle indicates the flow direction. This is true only on valves that turn just 90 degrees. In the picture, above, the two valves with the blue handles are open. In the case of the test valves on the side, the screwdriver slots normally indicate flow.

A few years ago, we bought some devices which would drain a little bit of water when they reached 35 degrees or so. In theory, these devices are a good idea, as water generally will not freeze if you just let a little water through. It turned out, though, that some of these devices froze, and their plastic bodies broke. We are sorry to say, we cannot recommend this type of system, though we are still looking for a better version.

Ideally, hoses should be drained and stored inside. If you don’t want that hassle, at least keep one end of the hose open to allow some expansion, as hoses will freeze. We don’t have enough experience to say that hose bibbs (the hose connection valve on the house) in Village Creek will freeze, but suspect they generally don’t because their pipes are heated somewhat by the house. To be safe, hardware stores do have Styrofoam covers for hose bibbs. The bottom line is that any exposed pipe with stationary water MAY freeze, so take action where necessary.

Landscape Corner - (Continued on Page 2)

2 VillageCreekCommunityNewsletter- November 2012 Copyright © 2012 Peel, Inc.

The Village GazetteIMPORTANT NUMBERS

EMERGENCY NUMBERS or 911CenterPoint-Gas Leak .........................................713-659-3552Constables Office .................. 281-376-3472, www.cd4.hctx.netKlein Fire Dept. .................................................281-376-4449Poison Control Center ........................................800-764-7661Willowbrook Methodist ......................................281-477-1000EMERGENCY 24 HOUR LINE .......................281-537-0957(select 'emergency' option)SCHOOLSTomball ISD .....................281-357-3100, www.tomballisd.netWillow Creek Elem (K-4)....................................281-357-3080Northpointe Int (5-6) ..........................................281-357-3020Willow Wood Jr (7-8) .........................................281-357-3030Tomball High (9-12) ...........................................281-357-3220Tomball Memorial High School ..........................281-357-3230Transportation .....................................................281-357-3193HOA MGMTPreferred Management ........................................281-897-8808 Patti Tine ......................................... [email protected] Fax ..................................................................281-897-8838 Mailing: P.O. Box 690269 Houston, TX 77269

Village Creek Community Association Website:www.preferredmgt.com/villagecreek/home.asp

SERVICESCPS .....................................................................713-626-5701CenterPoint-Gas..................................................713-659-2111Dead Animal Pick up ..........................................713-699-1113Domestic Violence ..............................................281-401-6250FBI ......................................................................713-693-5000Harris County Animal Control ...........................281-999-3191Houston Chronicle .............................................713-220-7211Greater Houston Pool .........................................713-771-7665Lost Pets ...http://www.preferredmgt.com/villagecreek/home.aspMunicipal District Services (24 hrs) ....................281-290-6500Reliant–Street lights ............................................713-923-3213 .......................................www.centerpointenergy.com/outageSex Offenders .......................................www.familywatchdog.usComcast - Cable/High Speed Internet .................713-341-1000Republic Waste ....................................................713-849-0400 Trash pickup Tues/Fri Recycling Fri (only newspapers/#1 & 2 plastics/aluminum cans)Yard Stork .........................................kpuente@garygreene.comNEWSLETTEREditorJerry Baggert ............................................. [email protected](Deadline is the 5th of each month)Publisher - Peel, Inc. ............................................512-263-9181Advertising [email protected], 888-687-6444RESIDENT BOARD MEMBERSSharon Gabbert .........................................................................Jeff Lev ......................................................................................Tom Brogan ..............................................................................Richard Moore ..........................................................................Ken McCoy ...............................................................................Website ..............................www.preferredmgt.com/villagecreek

Landscape Corner - (Continued from Cover Page)

We all have plants that need freeze protection, though we are tending to agree with our son, who believes in Darwin’s survival of the fittest: “If the plant can’t handle the frost, then let it go, and try a different plant.” Not everyone is a Darwin fan, so, in that case, read up on freeze protection at web sites such as (http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/docs/FrostsandFreezes.pdf ). Here are a few hints from that source:

1. Water the soil well before the freeze. Water is one of nature’s best heat storage mediums.

2. In general, don’t water the plant’s foliage (see the article above for the rationale).

3. Cover your plants but make sure you use cloth, though plastic in conjunction with cloth works well. Again, the article explains this.

4. Keep in mind that when you put a blanket on a plant, the source of heat is from the Earth, so make sure the blanket extends to the ground in a manner to allow the heat to rise.

5. Mulch helps keep heat and moisture in.6. Containerized plants are especially susceptible to freezing

because they have more area exposed to cold air. Bunch them together and cover with a blanket.

7. Christmas strings of bulbs (those that still give out heat) can be used as a source of heat for very valuable plants (in conjunction with blankets). Never leave cloth or plastic touching a hot bulb.

8. Do not prune plant freeze damage until February or March (Doug Welsh’s Texas Garden Almanac).

(Continued on Page 3)

NOT AVAILABLEONLINE


The Village Gazette

If you are a vegetable gardener, you can still plant kale, mustard, spinach, onions, and garlic. You will need to cover all of these during a frost.

According to Texas Gardner, pull out those annuals that die, and cut back the perennials to a few inches. Add mulch around and over the perennials to protect them from freezing.

Our citrus trees are not yet mature enough to obtain fruit, and we wonder if they ever will be. If they were, this would be the month to enjoy their fruit. Texas Gardener recommends that we regularly fertilize fruit trees, but avoid fertilizing them in winter. Resume fertilizing them after the danger of frost. In general, it is our plan to use the Darwin theory on our citrus plants.

Tools: This advice is a bit like the advice on garage door openers: to lubricate and test them monthly. Right. I’ll get right to that. Anyway, for those of you with some extra time, this is a good time to clean up your shovels, rakes, and hand tools and rub their metal with a film of oil. Coat the wooden handles with linseed oil. Run your gasoline motors out of fuel to keep their fuel system free of gunk in the spring.

Parents: All children love to climb trees, and the Village Creek children are no exception. Please remind your children that most of the public trees at Village Creek are immature and incapable of

handling climbing or hanging. Please help avoid injuries both to our trees and our children!

Watering: Watering can be greatly reduced during the Winter. Water if the ground is dry or if a freeze is predicted. If there is no rain during the month, water everything at least one time.

The Village Creek Landscape Committee Update: Good news! The Board has funded work which will improve all the landscape areas around the lake. This work will be performed in early November. This is the second phase of work. The first was the new landscaping at the Village Creek entrance. The landscape committee, with Board concurrence, has a plan to improve all of the landscaping in Village Creek. Keep in mind that the drought took a heavy toll on our landscaping, and everything cannot be fixed at once. The work priority will be to take care of those areas which are seen by the most people first. The entire effort will take several years.

Here is the historical November weather data for Tomball from intellicast.com:

(Continued from Page 2)

Until next time, Happy Gardening! The Village Creek Landscape Committee.

Average Average Record Record Average Average

Month Low High Low High Precipitation Snow

November 49 71 21 89 4.79 0


The Village Gazette

Bashans Painting & Home Repair

• Interior & Exterior Painting• Hardi Plank Installation• Wood Replacement• Sheetrock Repair• Interior Carpentry• Cabinet Painting• Wallpaper Removal and Texturizing• Pressure Washing• Fence Repair/Replacement

Commercial/ResidentialFree Estimates

281-347-6702

References Available • Fully InsuredNO PAYMENT UNTIL COMPLETION

281-731-3383cell

[email protected]

• Garage Floor Epoxy• Custom Staining• Roofing• Gutter Repair/Replacement• Faux Painting• Door Refinishing• Window Installation• Trash Removal• Ceiling Fan/Light Fixtures

The Village Creek Back to School Luau and Kindergarten Meet and Greet was a lot of fun with a great turnout! We had 20 Kindergartners and their family attend along with a special visit from The Willow Creek Elementary vice Principal, Hafida Becker.

A special thanks to the social committee volunteers for putting it all together and especially Susan Giddens for heading the event. A DJ kept the party movin, pizza and cold drinks were enjoyed and the lifeguards led pool games.

Mark your calendars for Sunday, December 9, 3:00-5:00 @ the clubhouse for “Cookies with Santa!”

Avoid the mall lines and come to the clubhouse for visit with Santa, cookies with Mrs. Clause and a holiday gift. And of course, don’t forget your camera!

Social Committee Info The NutcrackerArtisan Ballet Company invites you to attend its annual

performance of the timeless ballet classic, The Nutcracker, at the Berry Center, 8877 Barker Cypress Road, Cypress, Texas 77433. Performances are at 3pm and 7pm on Saturday, December 8th and at 3pm on Sunday, December 9th. Village Creek ballerina, Anais Colin, will be among the dancers in this year’s presentation. Anais is cast in several roles as one of Clara’s friends (Saturday, 3pm and

FOR TICKET INFORMATION:

Phone: 832-717-3263 Cell: 281-704-9139 E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.artisanschoolofdance.com Address: 12603 Louetta, Suite 110, Cypress, TX 77429 Tickets: Reserved seating tickets $18.00 on sale November 1st Call for group ticket information.

7pm), a Cavalry Soldier, a Polichinelle (Saturday, 7pm) and as one of the Chefs (Saturday, 3pm; Sunday, 3pm) in the Land of Sweets.

Please support Artisan Ballet Company and our young neighborhood dancer by attending either one of the performances.


The Village GazetteAt no time will any source be allowed to use The Village Gazette's contents, or loan said contents, to others in anyway, shape or form, nor in any media, website, print, film, e-mail, electrostatic copy, fax, or etc. for the purpose of solicitation, commercial use, or any use for profit, political campaigns, or other self amplification, under penalty of law without written or expressed permission from Peel, Inc. The information in The Village Gazette is exclusively for the private use of the Village Creek HOA and Peel, Inc.

DISCLAIMER: Articles and ads in this newsletter express the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Peel, Inc. or its employees. Peel, Inc. is not responsible for the accuracy of any facts stated in articles submitted by others. The publisher also assumes no responsibility for the advertising content with this publication. All warranties and representations made in the advertising content are solely that of the advertiser and any such claims regarding its content should be taken up with the advertiser.* The publisher assumes no liability with regard to its advertisers for misprints or failure to place advertising in this publication except for the actual cost of such advertising.* Although every effort is taken to avoid mistakes and/or misprints, the publisher assumes no responsibility for any errors of information or typographical mistakes, except as limited to the cost of advertising as stated above or in the case of misinformation, a printed retraction/correction.* Under no circumstances shall the publisher be held liable for incidental or consequential damages, inconvenience, loss of business or services, or any other liabilities from failure to publish, or from failure to publish in a timely manner, except as limited to liabilities stated above.

“I am a hair stylist with 20 years experience. I have just recently moved with my family to Tomball, TX from Florida where I owned my own salon. I have 4 children, two are in col-lege in Florida & a 5th grade daughter and 6th grade son. I have taken

tons of educational classes on color & cutting. I had a full clientele in Florida before I moved whom I miss very much! Many of them had become good friends over the years. I would love the opportunity to be your stylist and help you achieve a look you love. I have many ref-erences of past clients that I would be happy to supply to you for your confidence. I truly love doing hair & getting to know my clients and doing whatever it takes to make them overjoyed with their hairstyle! I look forward to meeting you”. Angie Daniel, Master Stylist

Check out my facebook page atwww.facebook.com/angieatluxeavenue.com

11619 Spring Cypress Road Suite C,Tomball, TX 77377.

Your First Service For New Clients

Located in The Offices of Spring Cypress at

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SudokuThe goal is to fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and

every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. Each digit mayappear only once in each row, each column, and each 3x3 box.

© 2006. Feature Exchange

SudokuThe challenge is to fill every row across, every column down, and every3x3 box with the digits 1 through 9. Each 1 through 9 digit must appearonly once in each row across, each column down, and each 3x3 box.

© 2006. Feature Exchange


The Village Gazette

Casino Night

Hosted by Cypress Ranch Athletic Booster Club Benefitting the student athletes of Cypress Ranch High School

Saturday, November 17th at 7pm SPJST Hall - Huffmeister Road

Please join us as we make our wagers and

“Rock and Roll” the night away.

Dinner Roulette Dancing Blackjack

Texas Hold’em Craps

Unique SILENT AUCTION ITEMS

Tickets available from any Cypress Ranch Athletic Booster Club board member and at all football games.

Tickets $40/person


The Village Gazette

It’s the Little Things thatMake a Difference.Just Ask a Mom.®

Educational Child Care for Infants through Private Kindergarten and After School

Primrose School of Spring Cypress 11616 Spring Cypress Rd Tomball, TX 77377

281.251.6300PrimroseSpringCypress.com

Each Primrose School is a privately owned and operated franchise. Primrose Schools and The Leader in Educational Child Care are trademarks of Primrose School Franchising Company. ©2012 Primrose School Franchising Company. All rights reserved.

The Right Foundation to Build Active

Minds, Healthy Bodies and Happy Hearts®

You can’t get any better than this environment. There

is such a trust level that they establish, the curriculum is

very enriching, it’s very well-rounded, the teachers are

very warm. So you feel like it’s a family environment.

Anabella & Frankie’s Mom, Primrose Parent

“ “

Christmas Decorating ContestIt’s time to begin decorating your yards and home for the Holidays.

Every year Village Creek outdoes itself with fabulous decorations ranging from Santa’ flying helicopters to thousands of twinkling lights on reindeer. So get out your Christmas lights and your wonderful decorations to continue making Village Creek an exciting place to be during the Holidays.

The Village Creek Landscape Committee will judge decorations in the following categories:

1. Best Street2. Most Festive Home3. Best Overall Home4. Best Traditional HomeThe judging will be done on Monday, December 17th and Tuesday,

December 18th. Here are a few hints for safe and successful yard and interior

decorating: 1. Make sure that your holiday decorations are protected by a

GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter). 2. Use a good ladder. Make sure the ladder is secure to the ground

and, if possible, tie your ladder to a secure portion of a tree or house to keep it stable.

3. If you have a natural Christmas tree, cut an inch off of the bottom prior to putting it in the tree stand and use a stand that has a water basin. Never let your natural tree water go dry.

4. Many artificial trees will burn. Don’t place any open flames near any tree.

5. Light Emitting Diode Christmas lights (LED) will obviously be the new standard Holiday decorating light. They use very little power, createlittle heat, and they last (at least in theory) a long, long time. What a great invention!!!


The Village GazettePick up after your pet!

When you take your pet for walks in the neighborhood, please remember to carry waste bags with you so that you can pick up after your pet. No one likes to pick up after someone else’s dog, so please be considerate of your neighbors and help to keep the neighborhood clean.

REMINDERPlease do not put your trash on the curb

before 6 pm the night before trash pick-up. Thank you for helping to keep our neighborhood beautiful and clean.

CYPRESS FELLOWSHIP

Real Church. No Country Club Agenda Here!cypressfellowship.org

Join us this Sunday!

SERVICES AT 9 AND 11 AM, BIBLE STUDY AT 10:10.

X-PLODE STUDENT MINISTRY (6TH-12TH GRADES) MEETS WEDNESDAYS AT 7 PM!

Visit us online at cypressfellowship.org or call 713.574.6301! We’re located at the corner of Spring Cypress and Telge.

ADVERTISE

Y O U RHEREBUSINESS 888-687-6444

SHOW OFFYOUR SUPERHEROParents this is your chance to brag on your

kiddos. We want pictures of your kids doing everyday things, school events, plays,

sports, etc. Send in your pictures to be featured in the Village Creek Community

Newsletter. E-mail your pictures to jgabbert@gmail.

com by the 8th of the month.


The Village Gazette Update

Village Creek

*According to information taken from the HAR MLS Computer

**Ranked by the Houston Business Journal 5/2001

Over 450 Homes SOLD in 2003Over 96% of David’s Listings Result in a Sale

Ranked in the Top 20 Realtors in the USA

Top 1% of Realtors in the U.S.

ProfessionalGroup832-478-1205

Village Creek Market ReportVillage Creek Market Report

David “Super Dave” FloryDavid “Super Dave” Flory

Selling Over 500 Homes A Year#16 Americas Top 200 Real Estate Professionals (Teams by Sides, Wall Street Journal- November 8, 2008)

Top 1% of Realtors in the U.S.

HIGHEST PRICE PER SQ.FT. resale homes sold

#2 Realtor In TexasRealtor Teams per Remax 9/2008

in Village Creek: $101.72

This market information report is provided to keep you informed of resale market activity in your subdivision.

This chart represents the homes that have sold and closed in the past 6 months according the Houston Multiple Listing Service.

TOTAL

000000

020100

000130

000300

011100

010300

3 0 4 3 3 4

Dec 08 Jan 09 Feb 09 Mar 09 Apr 09 May 09

Highest $/Sq Ft 95.41 90.53 71.19 91.59 90.24

$350,000 +$300,000 -$250,000 -$200,000 -$160,000 -$160,000 -

Professional Group832-478-1205

Direct line: 281-477-0345www.SuperDave.com

Courtesy of “DAVID FLORY”

David “Super Dave” FloryDavid “Super Dave” Flory

#2 Realtor in Houston & Texas*

#7 Realtor in United States*

$165,000$384,900

$245,203

$80.87

82

25

$275,000

$275,000

$84.23

94

1

$170,000$362,000

$240,550

$80.56

60

29

$67.48

$108.43

ACTIVE PENDING SOLD Last 6 Mos

# of Listings

Price Range:

Avg DOM

Average Price

Avg Price/sq.ft.

High Price/sq.ft.

Low Price/sq.ft.

Professional Group832-478-1205

281-477-0345www.SuperDave.com

**Realtor Teams per Remax 9/2008, 3/2009

Village Creek

Each Office Independently Owned and Operated

Over Thirty Years Experience DeliveringUnsurpassed Customer Service!

DAVID FLORY TEAM

#2 Realtor in Houston & Texas**

#7 Realtor in United States**

Selling Over 500 Homes A Year

#1 Realtor in Village Creek *


The Village Gazette

November 17 | Reliant Park Chip-timed 5K run and awareness walk

Plus music, children’s activities, refreshments and more!


The Village Gazette

By Chris Lee

For those of us living here in Houston, we're all acutely aware that the sun is a plentiful, if not unrelenting, source of heat and sunlight (okay, the heat is really a byproduct of the intense sunlight). And for many of us I bet that we've thought, "Gosh, if I could harness just some of that free sunlight...." The harder part is trying to answer the obvious questions about installing a solar array or solar panel system on the roof of your home - "How much electricity would it generate and how much money could I save on my electric bills?"

Without having to know much about solar or needing to contact a solar installer or solar company, you can easily get those estimates at your fingertips. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which is operated by the US Department of Energy, has created a website allowing anyone to calculate the amount of electricity a PV (photovoltaic) system (aka: solar panel array system) would generate. Here's the website (notice that it already takes into account that you're in Houston): http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/calculators/PVWATTS/version1/US/Texas/Houston.html

Here's a shortened link: http://goo.gl/bRurvOnce on the website, for your initial estimate, you can use

the default information presented and just click on "calculate" at the bottom. On the results page you will see that in Austin, a South facing solar panel array (which means the Array Azimuth = 180 degrees) that's built for 4 kW of electricity generation, would generate 4879 kWh in a year and save you $473.26. To give you a better estimate, there are 3 settings you can go back and change:

1. Array Azimuth in degrees.2. DC Rating in kW.3. Cost of Electricity in cents.

ARRAY AZIMUTH:If you're considering placing your solar array on the side

of your roof that gets the most sunlight and that part of the roof faces due South, then the Array Azimuth would be 180 degrees. If your proposed solar array will be facing Southwest, the azimuth would be 225 degrees. Southeast would be 135 degrees. And so forth. The more accurate your submission, the more accurate your estimate.

DC RATING:The DC Rating (in kW) default is 4 kW in the calculator.

This would be the "size" of electricity generation by your solar array - basically, by adding (or subtracting) more solar panels to your proposed system, the DC Rating would increase (or decrease). Makes sense - if you add more solar panels to your array, you'll increase the amount of electricity generated and therefore increase the amount of money saved.

COST OF ELECTRICITY:The default is the Texas state average of 9.7 cents per

kWh. For those of you with an electricity provider with higher (or soon to be higher) rates, you should change the rate accordingly to get a more realistic estimate.

So that's it, an easy way to determine what you would be generating with a solar array on the roof of your home. This is a simple but fairly accurate way to determine the benefit of installing solar on your home. Of course, YMMV (your mileage may vary) but by getting a fairly accurate estimate of the amount of electricity generated and the money saved, you can better determine whether or not installing a solar array on your roof would make financial sense for you and your family. If you have any questions, please ping me at [email protected].

“If I Installed Solar, How Much Electricity Would It Generate and How Much Would I Save?”

Powered by the Sun


The Village Gazette

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village creek - november 2012

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